Snipers

[maurice davis]

can anybody answer a few questions for me . Did british snipers have any special equipment such as clothing / weapons. Did the British army have special sniper squads and last of all can any one tell me where I can find out about them are there any web sites that cover the subject.

regards . Maurice

[Jonathan Saunders]

Although I havent read it myself, SNIPING IN FRANCE by Major H. Hesketh-Prichard DSO MC was recommended to me a couple of weeks ago and sounds like the book for you. I know it was reprinted in the 90's although it possibly isnt in print now. Amazon might be worth a try if you are interested.

I think there was an army school of sniping, which may have led to trained sniping squads. I am sure someone here will be bale to provide all teh answers.

[Guest Hussar]

Training schools were established in each of the belligerent armies. Civilian rifles - even elephant guns - were initially issued until standard army rifles were modified to suit the requirements of sniping; optics in particular required substantial development. The German Army quickly arranged for telescopes to be attached to their G98 service rifle. So-called 'hyposcopes' were developed which enabled rifles to be fired from below the parapet line.

Snipers invariably operated in pairs. The sniper would usually be accompanied by an observer who would often make use of a periscope ('sniperscopes') in order to scour the surrounding countryside. The nature of such a telescope rendered the observer less likely to fall casualty to enemy snipers in turn. Both sniper and observer would wear camouflage uniforms to further obscure their presence.

[Guest Ian Bowbrick]

If you can find it, an officer who was a sniper, published his memoirs in the 1920s, his name was Lt Kenneth Small and he served with the Loyal North Lancs on the Western Front.

Ian

[mordac]

Hi Maurice:

The sniper with the highest number of fatal shots during the war was Henry 'Ducky' Norwest, MM and bar, of the 50th Bn. CEF. He was credited with 115 confirmed fatal shots. Norwest's weapon of choice was the Canadian made Ross rifle.

Henry Norwest was a Métis of French-Cree ancestry who enlisted in January 1915 under the name Henry Louie, and was discharged after three months for misbehaviour. He reenlisted in September 1915 using his real name. Norwest was killed instantly by a sniper on August 18, 1918. When news reached Canadian Corps headquarters of Norwest's death, Author Currie and other members of the general staff visited Norwest's body to pay their respects. Currie ordered a prolonged bombardment of the wooded area where the sniper who killed Norwest was said to be located.

Henry Norwest used three Ross rifles. After his death, one rifle was sent to his father, another went to the 50th Bn. museum in Calgary Alberta, and the third was reported as "missing."

Garth

[CROONAERT]

Much of the "special" clothing worn by snipers (to aid in camouflage and concealment) were "home made" rather than issued (although the RE had a camouflage service in France that manufactured and issued suits to snipers).These tended to consist of loose ,hooded knee length canvas blouses, rifle covers,gloves painted to blend in with the surroundings.

A boiler suit style garment was available by 1918 with a detachable scrim netting hood as was a "domino" - a speckled hooded cape. There was also a "Symian" pattern sniper suit which consisted entirely of loose fitting scrim,comprising a jacket with hood, seperate legs, rifle cover and gloves.This pattern resembled the modern "ghillie" suit.

Dave.

[ianw]

I have a fascinating Pan paperback entitled " Stalk and Kill - The Sniper Experience" by Adrian Gilbert. It has a good 40 pages on the WW1 period.

He lists "Sniping in France" of course plus " A Rifleman went to War" H W McBride and 3 volumes by Major F M Crum inc. "Memoirs of a Rifleman Scout".

[Mike_H]

Maurice

A good source is "The British Sniper - British & Commonwealth Sniping and Equipments 1915 - 1983"

by Ian Skennerton, first pub 1984 Arms & Armour Press, ISBN 0 949 749 03 6.

Hope this helps

Mike

[Muerrisch]

There was a lot of convergence between the post-Boer War skill of "Scouting" and the Great War skill of "Sniping" in that, if you had the natural abilities to do the one, you could probably be trained to do the other.

Pre war battalion and company scouts wore special badges [three varieties] to distinguish them, and were among the most highly trained and regarded men in the battalion.

As the Great War progressed, an officer was appointed in some battalions as "Scout and Sniper section officer". Clearly, in trench warfare the "scouting" aspect atrophied. All this from memory, but I can do the literature search if it matters.

And, by the way, a "sniper's" badge would not be a good idea to wear, even though I do have some British examples [not Great War]. I doubt if many snipers ended up as Prisoners of War.

[Michael]

An interesting thread. Has anyone seen references to allied snipers in war diaries ?

Michael

[maurice davis]

Thank you to every one who as answered so far I will try to obtain the books that you have suggested.

It sems to be a bigger subject than I imagined so it looks like I have quite some work to do on this project ,again thanks for the help its fantastic the knowlege thats out there.

regards Maurice

[Guest Ian Bowbrick]

Michael,

Lt Small was in the Loyal North Lancs and first went to France in 1917, I have a copy of his MIC. I might try and track him through the War Diaries to see if there is much about him next time I have a spare moment at the PRO ( )

Ian

[Raster Scanning]

Here is part of the records of Pte William Young of the 7th (later 2nd) Battalion Bedfordshire Rgt. He is listed as a sniper.

John

[Raster Scanning]

And the man himself